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If you've ever wished upon a star for a place where you can enjoy a pleasant atmosphere, converse with interesting people, and bet 350 gold on a pirate to kick the stuffing out of a wizard, then your wish has come true. Oh, and of course there are also some games going on. In this thread, you will find links to all games that are running, plus status updates and a little information about the games, too.

Are you new to this forum? Thinking of joining in with a few things, having some fun? If so, then a double helping of welcome to you. The users of this forum pride themselves on courtesy and helpfulness. You won't be singled out for being new - and if you have any questions about the games, the GM (that's Game Moderator, or Master - the person running the game) will be happy to answer them.

Have fun!

Catharsis (on behalf of all at Forum Games)

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Mafia Games

The Mafia Games are probably CFC's most veteran forum games, having run since the early days of the site. A town of innocents will be infiltrated by mafiosi bent on killing them all - but the innocents aren't going to lay down and let them do that. Sometimes mafiosi will leave a clue at the scene of each murder, which the innocent players have to solve; other times, the townspeople are relying on the special skills (or 'roles') of some of their number to flush out the nasty peeps. These games involve critical assessment of claims and vote-patterns, and skill at clue-solving, and for the mafia members, adeptness at hiding amongst the innocents and making your clues hard to solve.

For more information on playing (and GMing) mafia games, or to register your interest in GMing a future game, why not visit the Mafia Information Thread, run by Zack?

Mafia Games are easy to pick up and don't require an enormous time commitment, so even if forum games generally don't interest you, you might want to consider giving these a try.

Night of the Werewolves (or 'NotW') is a more in-depth variant of the mafia game with a fantasy setting - but this time, you don't get any clues! There's a lot more I could say about these, but forum user Ekolite has helpfully put together a guide to all things NotW (with rules by Unser Giftzwerg), along with the Fall from Heaven world in which it is based. This thread is now run by Backwards Logic and holds information on Mini-NotWs, too. You can find it here. You don't have to read this thread to be able to participate in a NotW game, because a lot of it is quite similar to the mafia game and players will answer your questions if you have any, but it is still a good read (and it also contains an archive and some player AIM addresses, for private negotiations ).

And if you don't have time for the larger games, or you got killed on the first day by those awful wolves, then you might want to consider signing up for a mini-NotW, which is like NotW, but mini. If you're playing a main NotW and you're still alive, then signing up for one of these is not recommended!

These are also known as 'Snakes and Foxes-style games' after the first game of this type, which has unfortunately been deleted. Like NotW, the Combat Games are basically an extension of the general concept of mafia games - there are some bad guys hidden amongst some innocents, and it's the bad guys' job to stay hidden while the innocents try to root them out.

What makes these so different, and at the same time so complex and engaging, is the introduction of half-daily player-vs.-player combat. Instead of voting for one player to be executed, you vote for two to fight. A set of stats unique to each player will determine the victor... the loser is removed from the game, his innocence, or lack of it, made public. Add in numerous secondary mechanics, such as team strategy, currency and purchasable items, betting on the outcome of fights, and other shady groups working on their own agenda, and you'll realise what makes these games some of the most popular on the forum.

Dissensions v2.0 (GMed by LightFang, originally by Tolis)This game has been declared dead.

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Roll to Dodge

A comparatively new addition to CFC's recurring game roster, Roll to Dodge is a magnificently over-the-top exercise in creative insanity. The basic idea is straightforward: you are one of several players dropped into some setting, and your aim is to be the last one standing. What gives RtD its unique atmosphere is the luck-based command system: you tell the GM that you want to do something, anything, and the GM will roll a die to see how successful your command was.

I must stress this again: your choices are (almost) limitless, but the more extravagant your action, the more catastrophic the backfire will be if you fail. For example, you can summon a mutant giraffe to do your bidding, hooray! But what if you roll a 1? Maybe you just grow a really useless long neck instead. And what if you roll a 6? Perhaps the giraffe appears, but its neck is so long that it busts up the roof, showering every player with debris. You never really know what's going to happen and nothing's set in stone. Good luck: you'll need it.

If you came here from the Civilization forums, then you will undoubtedly be interested in building your own personal empire - and here at Forum Games, you can do just that! There are quite a few options available to you; for example:

These are forum-based map games that are designed to be engaging and fun, while at the same time less strenuous and time-consuming than a regular NES (Never-Ending Story, a combination of map game and story-writing exercise that can be played in their own subforum, here).

Don't be fooled by the name, though - you'll have to have your wits about you to build a nation that can stand the test of time! You'll be expected to send in 'orders' to the GM via Private Message detailing your country's actions for the turn, and the GM will craft an update out of all the orders he receives. There's a lot of variation in the rules from game to game, so make sure to read the thread carefully to get the best experience out of it.

Imperium Offtopicum is an empire-building game that spawned from the Altered Maps threads. It has had many variations, but some rules remain constant: You expand a little at a time, you can engage in war and conquer the world, and the overall goal is fun. So, look into playing one!

IOT is not necessarily a huge time commitment, requiring maybe ten minutes of your day to put orders together - but of course, if you want to delve into the complexities of diplomacy, you might end up losing a bit more time than that! These games are some of the fastest-developing on CFC at the moment, so they're worth trying. (Thanks to civplayah and taillesskangaru for help with this intro)

If you're a hardcore strategy-buff, then these are the games for you. Diplomacy games are based on the board game of the same name, and while some rules are modified depending on the GM, CFC's Diplomacy stays true to the atmosphere of the original game - backstabbing, paranoia and secret deals are all integral parts of the experience. And if you're not the one dishing them out, then you'll be the one on the receiving end. Mercy? These guys don't even know the meaning of the word.

As in a Lazy NES, you control your faction by sending orders to the GM using CFC's PM system.

Baucus: Armies of Honour (GMed by lord_joakim)This game appears dead.
This is a map-based combat game set in a fantasy world.

Diplomilation (GMed by PieceOfMind)This game has finished.
This is a different concept in that it does not involve a map and the combat is simplified, but the idea is the same - namely that you have to use diplomacy and tact to achieve your aim, which in this case is to be the last nation standing.

CFCer Terrance888 described EPYC thusly: "It is like a game of telephone but you [the GM] wire tap us and we alternate words with pictures." This is an apt description of Eat Poop You Cat, pronounced i'pupiukat, a game beloved of surrealists and hewn from the same cloth as Exquisite Corpse and similar games.

As an EPYC player, you will be placed randomly in a list containing other players. The GM will then make up a caption and PM it to the first person on the list, who must draw a picture to illustrate that caption. This player will then PM his picture to (the GM and) the next person on the list, who must make up a caption to accompany the picture. As the poop moves down the list, the original caption gets distorted into something entirely new (and usually quite strange). It's a lot of fun, not a huge timesink and no drawing skill is required, so if you feel like getting your mind blown, why not join a game and see what happens?

The Island Game (GMed by e350tb)
Create your own island and rule it with tact and diplomacy (or at the very least, 'tact' and 'diplomacy') on your quest to make the sea less boring.This game has finished.

The Ancient Rome Game (GMed by CivRulesAll)
Be a city in the Roman empire and fight your enemies, who are not in the Roman empire.This game is dead.

Doomed Galactic Journey (GMed by Splime)
You are on a spaceship, en route to colonise a distant planet, but hidden amongst you and your shipmates is an unknown lurking danger, which must be expunged.This game has finished.

Excavation! (GMed by Sanotra)
Some multicoloured miners need to dig through the dirt in order to strike gold.This game appears dead.

Journey to Nowhere (GMed by Splime)
You control your character and attempt to survive in the wilderness. Orders are sent via PM, but there is also a lot of strategic discussion and roleplay which is performed (to an extent) in the thread.This game has finished.

War at Civ Fanatics IV (GMed by dylan910)
The War at CivFanatics series began as a response to an offhand declaration of war between two posters in Off-Topic, but has grown into a much-loved favourite of the forum. It's often anarchic, and nowhere near as time-consuming as Lazy NES or Diplomacy. You post your orders in the thread, this time, so no need for PMs.This game is dead.

Battle Isle 1943 (GMed by Daftpanzer)
And now for something completely different! This isn't an empire-building game in the strictest sense of the term, but it is a map game. You control a military unit on a mysterious island, fighting a close-quarters microcosm of WWII.This game is dead.

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Quizzes

Various quizzes, on quite a few subjects, that anyone can participate in. In most quizzes, if you answer a question correctly, you get to set the next question.

Note: for a while now, these quizzes have seen little to no action, but that shouldn't stop you! You can still bump the quiz threads, or start your own thread.

The GM will post an image, for which any player can post an amusing caption. At the end of a specified time period, the GM will pick his favourites and award the 'trophies'.

Note: like the quizzes, these have not been terribly active lately. A new caption competition would be very much welcomed!

Spoilerfinished or dead caption contests :

Caption Contest (GMed by electric926)
In this game, electric926 is the permanent GM, and he will always set the pictures. Updates are generally weekly, and occur on Saturdays. First thread here. (finished)

Improved Caption Contest (no GM)
In this game, the winner of the 1st-place trophy for the last picture gets to set the next one (and thus decide on the winners). Update times vary due to the fluid nature of the GMing.

@Catharsis: Reclaiming the World has not been declared dead yet, and thus belongs on the "status uncertain" list. Also, put in a key at the bottom for what the color-coded text means.

Click to expand...

It hasn't seen an update since the beginning of July. I'd call that dead, wouldn't you? If thomas posts a status update and confirms that he still plans to update, I'll add it to the list; otherwise, it seems counter-intuitive to clutter it up with dead stuff.

As for the colour-coded text... you shouldn't really need a key. There are only three colours, and the status of each game is spelled out in text. The colours are only there for lazy people scrolling through the first post. And because colours are pretty.

Gonna have to get rid of some of that dead stuff at some point. Problem is, most everything on the list is dead and I'm not deleting the descriptions, those took me upwards of a few minutes to think up.

I've hosted a slew of mafia-style games down at Total War Center's Mafia section and Totalwar.org's gameroom. This is the same Askthepizzaguy.

Just wondering, I've seen a number of mafia games are hosted here, do you usually get a lot of interested people signed up, and is there a queue for hosting? I'd like to host some games here if possible.